The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of most questions, tasks, and assignments being text-specific and requiring students to engage with the text directly (drawing on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text).

The materials include text-dependent questions to develop critical thinking skills. The majority of questions are text-dependent and provided over the course of the year. Before reading, a question is posed consistently allowing students to first draw on prior knowledge and/or experiences that connect to the selection. Before reading, a question is posed consistently allowing students to first draw on prior knowledge and/or experiences that connect to the selection. The text-dependent questions within a gradual release of responsibility framework during and after reading are designed to support students’ literacy growth, and essential questions prepare students to respond during the reading process. After reading questions require students recall and interpret detail, analyze and evaluate, and apply critical thinking skills. Teacher materials provide support for planning and implementation. The Close Reading Model includes text-dependent and specific questions in three sections: Before, During, and After Reading. The Before Reading section includes four subsections with questions embedded within the margins of the textbook: Build Background, Analyze Literature, Set Purpose and Use Reading Skills. The During Reading section includes three subsections: Use Reading Strategies, Analyze Literature, and Make Connections. The After Reading section includes three subsections: Find Meaning, Make Judgements and Extend Understanding.

Materials also include Differentiated Instruction, Common Core Assessment Practice, Meeting the Standards, and Exceeding the Standards guides that also provide text-dependent questions. The text-dependent questions within a gradual release of responsibility framework during and after reading are designed to support students’ literacy growth, and essential questions prepare students to respond during the reading process. After reading questions require students recall and interpret detail, analyze and evaluate, and apply critical thinking skills. Teacher materials provide support for planning and implementation. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, after reading “Lob’s Girl,” students are asked, “To what extent does this story depend on surprises? Explain your answer using details from the story.”

• In Unit 2, students reread, “Ta-Na-E-Ka” and are assigned the following tasks, “Record two or more conflicts in a chart and tell whether they are internal or external.”

• In Unit 2, students work in groups to create self-generated questions relating to the selection, “Boys”. To assist with their construction of text-dependent questions covering setting, theme, character, or plot, students are directed to model their questions as follows: “Which character changes the most?”

• In Unit 3, using the text, Abd al-Rahman Ibrahima, on page 275, the “During Reading” question reads, “Analyzing Literature: Biography- Does the writer side with Fula or the Mandingo? What details helped you decide this?” This question requires the student to return to the text for answers.

• In Unit 4, using the texts, “Developing Your Chops” and “Muddy Waters”, on page 408, in the “After Reading” section, “Comparing Literature”, students must use two texts to do the following assignment: “DIction: Both authors express individual voice through word choice, or diction. Use your chart to analyze each writer’s choice and diction, and then answer the following questions. Give examples from the readings to support your responses.

• In Unit 5, students read the poem, “Ode To La Tortilla,” and chart the events of the poem in chronological order.

• In Unit 5, students read the poem, “Abuelito Who,” and write a literary response to the poem that includes how figurative language affected their overall impression of the poem. Students must include evidence of the most effective figurative language to support their thesis.

• In Unit 6, students read the poem, “The Dream Catcher,” and respond to the following text specific questions: What do you think the speaker thinks of sharing dreams? and What clue in the poem supports your response?

• In Unit 6, students examine the meaning of personification by revisiting line 71 of the poem, “The Wreck of the Hesperas”. Then, students locate other examples of personification in the poem.

• In Unit 7, after reading “Why Monkeys Live in Trees,” students are reminded that each character represents a human quality. They are assigned the following tasks: “Use a chart to note each animal’s traits and the human qualities associated with them.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for materials providing frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

Students are given the chance to speak about texts and extensions of the texts in the after reading exercises entitled, “Collaborative Learning." The “Exceeding the Standards-Speaking and Listening” handbook provides step-by-step instructions for each unit workshop in the text. Speaking and Listening rubrics are available for self and peer assessment. An opportunity for students to engage in a speaking and listening workshop is present following each unit. Each unit concludes with a Speaking, Listening, and/or Viewing Workshop. Within these workshops, students write, deliver, and listen to different speech presentations. Protocols are included in the margins of the workshops entitled, “Performance Tasks."

Protocols for speaking and listening can be found in the Speaking and Listening Workshop at the end of each unit. The presentations students develop are coordinated with the theme of the unit. In the Language Arts Handbook at the back of the Teacher’s Edition (and student handbook) the following guidelines and protocols are provided: Verbal and Nonverbal Communication, Listening Skills, Listening Critically, Listening to Learn Vocabulary, Listening for Appreciation, Collaborative Learning and Communication, Conducting an Interview, Guidelines for conducting an Interview, Public Speaking Tips, Guidelines for Giving a Speech, Oral Interpretation Guidelines for a dramatic reading of a literary work or group of works, Interpreting Poetry Guidelines, Guidelines for Storytelling, Participating in a Debate, and Guidelines for a Multimedia Presentation.

Additional instruction is available for speaking and listening strategies and skills in the Language Arts Handbook in the back of the student textbook. Guidelines for Verbal and Nonverbal Communication are provided, as well as adapting listening skills. Collaborative Learning and Communication Skills, Asking and Answering Questions, Conducting an Interview, and other Speaking & Listening guidelines are available as a resource.

Examples of how materials meet the criteria for providing opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax include:

• Unit 1, Performance Task: Revise Evaluating a Draft: Discuss with students the following tips for delivering and receiving helpful criticism.

• In Unit 1, students have the opportunity to participate in a Speaking and Listening Workshop for Delivering and Listening to an Informative Presentation. The content of the presentation is not tied directly to texts included in Unit 1. The materials direct teachers “To expand upon this lesson, Delivering and Listening to an Informative Presentation, see Exceeding the Standards: Speaking & Listening resource.”

• In Unit 2, for the text, “Tuesday of the Other June,” an opportunity for speaking and listening is present during Self-Generated Questioning: “Have students work in pairs to create one question about the selection and draw a picture, chart, or another graphic that answers the question. Model a question: ‘How does it feel to be the other June?’ Invite the pairs to share their questions and answers in small groups or as a class.”

• Unit 3, p. 369, Evaluating Your Presentation In small groups, take turns delivering your speech. After each presentation, group members should offer help and polite feedback on whether the speech was effective in persuading listeners, and provide tips for how it might be improved. Follow the rubric on this page to evaluate the presentation.

• In Unit 3, “The Jacket” an opportunity for speaking and listening is present during Self-Generated Questioning: “Divide the class into small groups. Have each group brainstorm and list some questions they would like to ask Gary Soto. Have each group pass its questions to another group, which will then pretend to be the author and answer in the way they think Soto would. Have groups share some of the questions and answers with the class. Model a question: ‘What other clothing item have you owned that deeply affected your life?'”

• In Unit 4, “The Five ‘Wanderers’ of the Ancient Skies” an opportunity for speaking and listening is present as students Prepare a Debate: "Assign students to an even number of teams. Randomly assign the positions of Ptolemy and Aristarchus to each pair of teams. Have students prepare positions for a debate between the two scientist. Students can use the text to make a list of reasons to support the positions of either of the two scientists. Encourage students to do more research on their own to add to the strength of their arguments. After students have prepared their arguments and decided who will present each argument, have pairs of teams stage their debate for the class."

• In Unit 5, students analyze fear in the media by identifying scary movies, television shows, and books. They discuss in groups the commonalities, accuracies, exaggerations, and what they tell us about our culture.

• In Unit 6, students read the poem, “Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand,” and discuss in groups the author’s nontraditional use of punctuation and capitalization. They brainstorm questions about his style, then have a group discussion about his possible responses.

• In Unit 7, after students read Part I of the novel, “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster, opportunities for collaboration are provided. Students are to take on the roles of characters in the play. Students are to identify unfamiliar words, look up the definition and paraphrase it. Each group is to perform the play defining each unfamiliar word as they speak.

• In Unit 8, students create research presentations and are provided with instructions to organize their speech including: “Select visuals that will help your audience understand your organization. For example, if you are describing how things change through history, use a poster or transparency showing a timeline.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing (e.g. multiple drafts, revisions over time) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

The instructional materials for Grade 6 include a mix of on-demand and process writing and short, focused projects. A range of writing activities and tasks are provided. Opportunities for students to revise and/or edit are provided to practice skills in an authentic manner. Students can utilize digital and outside resources when appropriate to the task. Writing tasks and projects are aligned to the grade level standards being reviewed.

The Teacher’s Edition offers opportunities to write in the Extend Understanding section, Writing Skills section throughout the unit, and the Writing Workshops and Test Practice Workshops at the end of each unit. Extend Understanding contains on-demand writing activities. The Writer’s Workshops for each unit includes a process writing assignment. The “Exceeding the Standards” book includes supports for each Writing Workshop. These activities require students to analyze the current reading and ground evidence from the text. Additionally, short, focused projects utilizing media resources are provided and require students to work with partners in groups or independently.

Examples of on-demand writing include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 3, students research the history of leading up to and including the country of Myanmar’s current political situation. Students answer the question, ”Can the situation be compared to the political situation in any other country you have learned about?” Students write a brief report that summarizes their research.

• At the end of Unit 4, a Test Practice Workshop is provided where students read a prompt and are then to plan and write several paragraphs for an informative essay where they state and support a thesis about events that shaped the life of Abd al-Rahman Ibrahima. Students use a cause and effect organization for the essay.

• In Unit 5, using “Jabberwocky," in the Extend Understanding section, students write a critical analysis in which they state their opinions and support them with evidence from the poem. When writing this critical analysis, students are examining the “made-up” vocabulary in the poem. They must discuss the reason they think that Lewis Carroll used so many “invented” words in his poem.

• In Unit 6, using “Child on Top of the Greenhouse” in the Extend Understanding exercise, students are given two options for writing after reading: Creative Writing or Narrative Writing. For the Creative option, students write a conclusion to the poem in the form of a short final stanza. For the Narrative option, the students writes a narrative paragraph about a time that they caused someone to worry by doing something they were not supposed to do. Students use chronological order, vivid descriptions and concrete nouns and verbs to describe their actions. Students share the final stanzas with the class.

Examples of process writing include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, students write a personal response to a short story. They use the writing process to complete the assignment and are provided with instructional support through each phase of the writing process.

• At the end of Unit 3, a Writing Workshop focusing on argument writing is provided. Students create a clear opinion in a thesis and to back it up with reasons and support. Additionally, students anticipate and address counterarguments. Students are taken through a prewrite, draft, revise, edit and proofread, and publish and present.

• At the end of Unit 4, a Writing Workshop focusing on informative writing is provided. Students write a cause-and-effect essay where they must present a clear thesis in the introduction. The body of the essay should be an analysis, a breakdown of causes and effects. Students are taken through a prewrite, draft, revise, edit and proofread, and publish and present.

• In Unit 5, in the Writer’s Workshop, students are instructed to write a personal narrative in which the they retell a personal experience from their own lives. Students experience a 5-step writing process including: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and proofreading, and publishing and presenting. Teachers are provided with a literary model and instructional protocols in the margins of the Writer’s Workshop pages on the stages of the writing process.

• In Unit 6, in the Writer’s Workshop, students are instructed to write a descriptive essay in which the students describe a person, place, or thing from their own lives. Students experience a 5-step writing process including: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and proofreading, and publishing and presenting. Teachers are provided with a literary model, instructional protocols in the margins of the writer’s workshop pages on the stages of the writing process.

• In Unit 7, students have the opportunity to practice narrative writing with a fantasy story to Extend Understanding: “Write a short fantasy story for younger children. Include some fanciful characters such as fairies, leprechauns, or leves. Use a story map to plan out the setting, conflict, plot events, and resolution of the conflict. Since the characters are from your imagination, use description, dialogue, and actions so your readers will have a clear understanding of their motivations and behavior."

Examples of short, focused projects incorporating digital resources where available include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, students complete the following visual literacy project: "Research global warming statistics. Which areas of the world are most affected by global warming? You may want to focus on a certain problem, such as rising temperatures, rising sea levels, or greenhouse gas emissions. Look on the Internet for global warming websites that provide tables, maps, and graphs that explain visually the most affected areas. To interpret visual information such as tables, first determine what the rows and columns represent and look to see where the information intersects. For maps and graphs check for a legend that identifies colors, lines, or other codes. Analyze these forms of media and create either a poster-board display of your pictures accompanied by explanatory paragraphs or a visual illustration and represent the process to your classmates."

• In Unit 2, students complete the following task: "Imagine that your school is going to honor President Cleveland. Write a letter of tribute or respect for the twenty-second president. Do a quick internet search to learn two or three of his greatest accomplishments as president. Include them in your letter to readers of kids’ magazine about US history. Use a respectful tone."

• In Unit 8, students have a Test Practice Workshop focusing on a Research Report that can include digital resources outside of the text. Students have the opportunity to write an informative research report in which they “examine the role of the trickster in the mythology of at least two different cultures. Gather your information from different sources. Be sure to document each source, paraphrasing and using quotes as you write your report."

• In Unit 8, students can move beyond the text through differentiated instruction and utilize digital resources through an Enrichment activity: “Athene, who is usually called Athena, is not just any goddess. Invite students to use print or online sources to find out more about Athena, what she represented to the Greeks, and why offending her might be far worse than offending a lesser Greek goddess such as Daphne, for example.“

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for materials providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

Materials provide opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. Materials provide multiple opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply different genres/modes of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. Where appropriate, writing opportunities are connected to texts and/or text sets (either as prompts, models, anchors, or supports). After most reading selections in each unit, students are given an opportunity to respond to the text in a form of writing in the “Extend Understanding” section. At the conclusion of each unit a “Writing Workshop” task is provided.

Each lesson offers a purpose for the writing, instruction and guidance in writing, a literary model for students to refer to, a five step writing process plan, a revision checklist and rubrics. Also, writing lessons are provided in the supplemental workbook, “Exceeding the Standards,” and supplementary writing lessons are also offered across the school year in different modes of writing such as: informative, narrative, descriptive, argumentative. Rubrics and a variety of writing tasks provide both students and teachers opportunities to monitor progress in writing skills.

In Unit 1, students read “Lob’s Girl” and engage in two text types of writing, narrative and informational, with the following activities:

• Imagine that you are a logical news reporter in Cornwall. Write a news story about Lob’s journeys from Liverpool to Cornwall. Be sure to tell the who, what, where, when, and why. Remember that a news story opens with a lead, or attention-grabbing first line, and organized in order of most important to least important information.

• In a brief literary response, analyze the effect of foreshadowing on the plot. State your main idea in a thesis, or opinion statement. Be sure to give specific examples of foreshadowing and tell how they create tension or suspense, or how they point ahead to things that happen later.

In Unit 2, students read “Tuesday of the Other June” and engage in two text types of writing, narrative and informational, with the following activities:

• Imagine your job is to give advice for personal problems. June wrote to you for advice before she solves her problem with Other June. Write a brief response for an advice column telling June what she should do. Be sure to give specific advice based on what happens in the story.

• Review the draw conclusions log you created as you read the story and your point of view chart. Then write a literary response. In your response, tell how point of view affects the characterization of June in the story. State your main idea in a thesis. To support your points, cite specific examples of what June says, does, thinks, or feels. Share your response with the Class.

In Unit 4, students write a one-page review of a Lartigue’s pictures after analyzing it in the school newspaper. “Decide first whether or not you want to recommend the pictures to students in the rest of the school. In your review, comment on the 'message' in the pictures, Lartigue’s purpose, and the effect of the pictures on you, the viewer. When you finish your review, exchange papers with a classmate to see how persuasive each of you has been."

In Unit 5, students use “Jabberwocky," in the “Extend Understanding” section, to write a critical analysis (a type of informative writing) in which they state their opinions and support them with evidence from the poem. When writing this critical analysis, students are examining the “made-up” vocabulary in the poem. They must discuss the reason they think that Lewis Carroll used so many “invented” words in his poem. A rubric is provided in the bottom margin of the Teacher’s Edition.

In Unit 6, for the “Writer’s Workshop," students are instructed to write a descriptive essay in which they describe a person, place, or thing from their own lives. Students experience a 5-step writing process including: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and proofreading, and publishing and presenting. Teachers are provided with a literary model, instructional protocols in the margins of the writer’s workshop pages on the stages of the writing process. Students are provided with writing organizers and a revision checklist.

In Unit 8, students utilize a Writing Rubric for informative writing, the Research Report focusing on the following: “an introduction that includes a clear thesis; a logical order of ideas; quoted, summarized, and paraphrased information from multiple sources; correct documentation for sources, as well as a Works Cited list; my own insights and explanations; a conclusion that summarizes the main idea of the paper without exact repetition."

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for materials including frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information.

The materials provide opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply research-based and evidence-based writing to support analyses, arguments, and synthesis. At the end of every reading selection, in the After Reading/Extend the Text section, students are presented with two on-demand writing options that prompt students to complete short, research-based writing using the texts read within the section. There are additional opportunities to complete writing assignments after reading selections, but only some of these tasks require students to seek evidence from the text. The writing prompts that require students to interact with the text only sometimes state explicitly that the students need to cite evidence. Some writing prompts are creative and narrative, causing the student to focus on personal events, reactions to themes, and using their imagination to create a product that is loosely related to the text. Students also experience research-based and evidence-based writing within every Writing Workshop section that occurs at the close of each unit. Many writing opportunities are focused around each student’s analyses and claims developed from reading closely and working with sources. Examples from each unit include:

• In Unit 1, students complete the following task: "Write an editorial for a newspaper arguing for special school programs for children of migrant workers, based around farming seasons. In the first paragraph, include a brief statement of why such programs are needed, and include information about a migrant child’s work schedule. In the second paragraph, describe Panchito’s attitude toward education as an example of why migrant children would want special programs. Share your editorial with the class."

• In Unit 2, students complete the following task: Imagine that you are a non-Japanese citizen living on the West Coast in 1942 and you’re seeing your friends and neighbors marched away to camps. Write an editorial for your local newspaper in which you take a stand against the internment of Japanese Americans. Be sure to support your opinion with reasons and explanations.

• In Unit 3, students are to write a literary response that analyzes how the speech’s tone and the speaker’s voice would be different if, instead of given by Gandhi, it was given by a British person who supported the Indian cause. The prompt states: “How does the cultural background of the speaker affect the overall message? State your main idea in a thesis and cite reasons as support."

• In Unit 4, students write a brief summary of the news article, “An Ancient Computer Surprises Scientists." The summary should include the main ideas, supporting details, but omit all opinions and other unverifiable information.

• In Unit 5, in the Meeting the Standards workbook, using “Jimmy Jet and his TV Set," students complete a chart in which they analyze the text by examining the author’s purpose and supporting the purpose with details or elements from the text.

• In Unit 5, in the Extend Understanding section, students use “A Remarkable Adventure “ to write a brief essay to analyze Prelutsky’s use of hyperbole in the poem. Students tell which events, characters, actions, or setting details are exaggerated and why these exaggerations seem humorous.

• In Unit 6, in the Extend Understanding section, students use “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” to write a character analysis of the speaker in the poem. They will write a topic sentence that states one of the character’s most important traits. Students will cite evidence from the text as support.

• In Unit 7, students practice informative writing to Extend Understanding: “Imagine that Milton Geiger is still alive. Write an analysis of the screenplay addressed to him. Tell Geiger whether the end of the play surprised you. Trace for him the predictions you made and revised as you read the screenplay. Explain what clues led you to make predictions. Comment on whether you found the ending satisfying or not, and explain why."

• In Unit 8, students practice argumentative writing to Extend Understanding: “Imagine that at the end of the story, the chief rules that Nunyala should be put to death for outsmarting him. Write an editorial for a newspaper that argues that Nunyala’s life should be spared. First, state why you believe that life should be spared. Then describe why you think the chief’s rulings are unjust, based on Nunyala’s thoughts in the story about how a wise ruler should act. Conclude by calling for the Ewe people to speak out against the chief’s ruling."